Denny Medley-Imagn Images
The alleged co-conspirator of a woman accused of killing Kansas City sports reporter Adan Manzano has now also been charged with murder. Rickey White, 34, had originally been arrested for fraud and burglary, but now faces charges of second-degree murder.
In March, Danette Colbert, 48, was officially charged with second-degree murder in the death of the 27-year-old Manzano. The Telemundo reporter was found dead in his hotel in Kenner, Louisiana while attending this year’s Super Bowl.
While announcing Colbert’s charge, the Kenner Police Department stated, “New evidence has since emerged, revealing that Colbert did not act alone. Investigators have identified an accomplice, Rickey White, who collaborated with Colbert in this scheme.” White was later located in Hollywood, Florida and arrested on multiple charges including robbery, bank fraud, and computer fraud.
“We feel confident in the investigation and what it has uncovered so far, that [White] is a principal to all of the charges that [Colbert] faces, including second-degree murder,” Kenner Police Deputy Chief Mark McCormick said this week.
According to Kenner Detective Jeffrey Fitzmorris, Colbert and White exchanged 30 phone calls on the day of Adan Manzano’s death. White also allegedly provided transportation for Colbert, helped her withdraw funds from their victims’ accounts, and provided her with the drugs.
Last month, police alleged that Danette Colbert and Rickey White had been targeting victims for several years in multiple locations, saying they “commonly use substances to drug their victims.” Adan Manzano’s cause of death was the combined toxic effects of Alprazolam (Xanax) and alcohol with positional asphyxia, according to the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office.
“This is a national, multijurisdictional crime spree. For that reason, we’ve asked and have been working with our attorney general to run point. Hopefully, we’ll have a better shot at solving it that way,” Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told ABC News in April. “This was not random. There’s a certain pattern with having drinks or food and then saying to the person they’ll help him back to their room.”
Colbert and Rickey White also, according to police, possessed years of text messages to coordinate knocking victims out with drugs and then stealing from them.
One of Colbert’s alleged previous victims, David Butler, said after the Telemundo reporter’s death, “Had the court acted decisively by incarcerating Ms. Colbert or enforcing stricter conditions for her release, it is possible Mr. Manzano would still be alive today.”